Former Auburn employee files lawsuit against university for anti-white discrimination
A former Auburn University employee is suing the school for racial and age discrimination.
Maintenance manager Henry Moreman alleges he was wrongfully demoted and barred from promotions.
A former Auburn University employee is suing the school for racial discrimination, claiming he was demoted for being white. However, the university says it demoted the man because he discriminated against another employee based on his age.
The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Middle District of Alabama Eastern Division in February but only made headlines last week. The case will come before a jury in December 2026.
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According to the lawsuit, Henry Moreman, 40, has worked for the university since 2018 as a maintenance manager. Last year, a younger black employee who Moreman was training made a formal complaint against him for racial and age discrimination. The university found Moreman at fault for violating the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).
Moreman denies he discriminated against the man. Moreover, the lawsuit argues that ADEA applies to people forty years of age or older, and the man in question was 26 at the time.
In November, following the other employee’s complaint, the university demoted Moreman to “a more suitable role within Facilities Management that does not involve or require supervision of other employees,” according to the lawsuit. Further, the demotion prevents Moreman from being promoted for five years.
He says the university’s action reveals racial and age discrimination. The university denied the charges in filings in February, according to Alabama Live.
Moreman’s case shows similarities to a recent Supreme Court case relating to so-called “reverse discrimination,” a form of affirmative action. On June 5, the court tossed out a lower court’s reliance on a “background circumstances” – a higher level of scrutiny for plaintiffs who allege discrimination despite belong to a majority group (e.g., white, male, or heterosexual); the Supreme Court’s decision was 9-0.
In the case, Marlean Ames, an employee of the Ohio Department of Youth Services since 2004, alleged that she lost a promotion to a lesbian, and then was replaced with a gay man.
Several courts ruled that Ames’ case could not proceed because she did not fulfill the “background circumstances” requirement, but the Supreme Court’s decision allowed her case to go forward.
A spokesman for Auburn University told Campus Reform earlier this week that “Auburn University does not comment on pending litigation.”
